Chewy Ginger Snaps

I’m not quite sure how to explain it, but there’s something “sexy” about cookies.

The way they smell, the way they melt in your mouth, and the way they taste.  Breaking a cookie in half and sharing it with a partner is inherently sexual.  I’ll leave you to fill in the details.

And I’m not the only one who feels this way.  In fact, I have a girlfriend that without fail always bakes a batch of cookies before a date because she likes her house “to smell like cookies.”  She’s made it clear that she doesn’t bake the cookies for her date (they’re never for him), but bakes them for her.  Bakes them so that every time he thinks of her, he imagines that she smells like freshly baked cookies.  It is a bit of a weird concept, but it seems to do the trick!

Although Chocolate Chip will do the trick, I am convinced that no cookie is sexier than these Chewy Ginger Snaps.  These aren’t the ginger snaps from your childhood–hard, crumbly, and sometimes difficult to bite through while they sit in air-tight tin containers–these cookies are soft, spicey, melt-in-your-mouth ginger snaps that have all of the best flavors of a ginger snap, but without the crumbs.  Plus, they’re larger.  Waaaaay larger.  The  batch calls for 2-inch dough balls and the final cookie is 3-4 inches in width.  Spicey and bigger than the normal Ginger Snap? Now that’s a sexy cookie.

Chewy Ginger Snaps

This recipe comes from Elise Bauer’s blog Simply Recipes and the original can be found here.

Ingredients:

* 4 1/2 cups all purpose flour

* 4 teaspoons ground ginger

* 2 teaspoons baking soda

* 1 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

* 1 teaspoon ground cloves

* 1/4 teaspoon salt

* 1 1/2 cup softened, room temperature butter (3 sticks)

* 2 cups granulated sugar

* 2 eggs, beaten

* 1/2 cup molasses

* 3/4 cup granulated sugar (for rolling)

1.) Preheat oven to 350F and grease down several baking sheets.  In a medium bowl mix together dry ingredients using a whisk, or sifter: flour, salt, baking soda, and spices.  Reserve for wet mixture.

2.) In a large mixing bowl or kitchenaid standing mixer, combine sugar and butter until creamy.  Add 2 eggs and mix to combine.  Add molasses and mix to complete wet mixture.

3.) Slowly add dry mixture to wet mixture, making sure to scrape down the sides of the bowl until the dough is fully formed.

4.) Using a clean work surface, sprinkle 3/4 cup sugar for rolling your dough balls.  Using either a 1/4 cup measuring cup, or a medium-large handful of dough, roll dough in sugar to fully coat (dough balls should be about 2 inches).  Add dough balls to baking sheets at 2 inches apart.  Bake in oven for 12-14 minutes, or until edges or golden brown (I suggest checking the cookies at 10 minutes).  Remove from oven and allow to cool.

Enjoy! Makes 2 dozen 3-4 inch cookies.

–Helana Brigman